Various sperm collecting apparatuses for collecting men's sperm have been proposed for the necessities of medical research or treatment. For example, a sperm collecting apparatus is used for medical needs such as examination of sexual function of a husband from the sperm collected for examination of the cause of marital infertility, or treatment of sexual dysfunction, reservation and storage of the sperm for artificial insemination. Simple sperm collecting apparatuses that can be conventionally available at a low price and that do not cause sanitary or health problems due to the disposability thereof have been known, and they can satisfy various social needs, such as prevention of sex-related crimes, antiprostitution activities, and a decrease of the number of infected persons of venereal diseases, by satisfying individual sexual desires.
For example, Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3076627 has proposed a sperm collecting apparatus where an interior member made from a gel-like synthetic resin (styrene block copolymer (styrene thermoplastic elastomer)) having a deep recessed space inside is provided in a cylindrical container main unit, a plurality of small projections projecting to the recessed space and fold-shaped portions are provided inside the interior member, and an exterior member made from urethane resin is provided so as to cover the circumference of the interior member.
In the sperm collecting apparatus, one end of the cylindrical container main unit whose upper and lower faces are flat is opened, an assembly obtained by assembling the exterior member to the interior member so as to cover the circumference thereof is inserted into the container from the opening, an insertion port of the interior member positioned on the side of the opening of the container is closed by a disk-like sponge lid, and the opening of the container is then sealed by a cap. A cross-shaped cut is preliminarily formed at a central portion of the sponge lid so that a penis can be inserted into the interior member via the sponge lid by causing the cut to communicate with the insertion port of the interior member.
Since the conventional container main unit has a structure that requires an exterior member made from urethane resin, there are various problems such that productivity lowers due to the number of assembling steps caused by an increased number of parts and an amount of waste when the sperm collecting apparatus is discarded increases.
The container is formed in a cylindrical member having a diameter (about 5 to 6.5 cm) equal over its entire length using plastic having a required hardness and thickness. Accordingly, there is a tendency that pressure applied to a penis inside the insertion member from an inner wall of the container main unit through the exterior member becomes approximately uniform during an operation for penis rubbing so that stimulations to the penis are simplified. Particularly, since expansion of the interior member is restricted by the exterior member, there is a tendency that stimulations caused by pressure become excessively strong. As a result, when an elderly person, a disabled person or the like who does not wish for strong stimulations as compared with a healthy young male using such a sperm collecting apparatus, there is often a case that pain increases due to excessively strong stimulations, and a sperm collection purpose cannot be achieved. That is, it is difficult to adjust stimulations according to individual reaction or liking. On the contrary, there is a limitation for a user who does not respond to an ordinary stimulation to obtain stronger stimulations corresponding to his liking in view of the structure of the container.
Since the recessed space in the interior member is sealed except for the insertion port, when a user inserts his penis into the recessed space from the insertion port, a space is formed between the interior member inner wall and his penis, the degree of tight contact between the both tends to lower. Particularly, since air tends to be easily accumulated between the most sensitive penis distal end and a depth portion of the recessed space, a problem occurs that accumulated air cannot be discharged even if any strong rubbing action is repeated and sufficient stimulations required for ejaculation cannot be obtained. Even if degassing is tried with strong grasp of the container main unit, since a distance between the inner wall of the container main unit having an equal diameter over its entire length (namely, a cylindrical shape) and the interior member inside the container main unit is about 2 cm, application of sufficient and appropriate pressure cannot be conducted and it is impossible to conduct degassing without imparting pain to a penis.
Since the container has a cylindrical shape with a diameter equal over its entire length, the exterior member covering the circumference of the interior member has a cylindrical shape similar to the container, and the inner wall of the exterior member has a straight shape that does not include any undulation, so that a force for retaining and shape-holding the interior member disposed inside the exterior member cannot be developed sufficiently, deformation of the interior member inside the exterior member becomes free beyond necessity, and buckling or deformation of the interior member tends to occur, so that normal use becomes difficult when the buckling occurs.
Since an elastomer that configures the interior member is expensive, it is effective for total cost reduction to thin the thickness of the interior member in order to reduce material cost, but when the thickness of the interior member is thinned, the interior member tends to buckle at a time of insertion or a rubbing operation of a penis, which can result in an unusable state. When securing of a shape-holding performance is tried in order to solve the problem by covering a periphery of the interior member with the exterior member, there is another problem of an increased number of assembling steps, which is a drawback caused by an increased number of parts.
A proper amount of lubricating liquid (lotion) is also charged in the recessed space for improving a lubricating property between the inner wall of the recessed space of the interior member made from an elastomer and a penis, but when the collecting apparatus is placed upright such that the cap side of the cylindrical container main unit faces downwardly during transportation, storage and display of the collecting apparatus, the insertion port side of the interior member always faces downwardly so that much lubricating liquid passes through the cut of the sponge lid and accumulates on the opening side of the container main unit, or inside the cap. In this state, when the cap is detached, lubricating liquid spills out from the opening of the container to the outside to drop on an outer face of the container or adhere on a hand or cloths of a user, thereby causing discomfort or causing a state that an amount of lubricating liquid in the recessed space of the interior member becomes insufficient during actual use.
In order to deal with such a drawback, it is necessary to store or display a collecting apparatus having a configuration in a state that a container thereof is disposed upright such that a bottom portion thereof opposed to an opening portion of a container main unit faces downwardly, but when the container is placed upright such that the opening portion faces upwardly, lubricating liquid accumulates in only the inner bottom portion (depth portion) of the recessed space of the interior member, so that lubricating liquid at an inlet (insertion port) of the recessed space and the inner wall is put in a dried state, which can obstruct penis insertion, can cause buckling or deformation of the interior member due to an excessive increase of frictional resistance between a penis and the inner wall of the recessed space, or can cause injury of the penis.
Conventionally, since a peripheral edge of the opening portion of the container main unit repeatedly abuts on a proximal portion of a user's penis or skin around his penis during use, there can be a drawback that such portions are injured or discomfort is given to the user.